Oct 18 Design Firm DLR Group’s New DTLA Creative Office

Design firm DLR Group recently designed their offices in Los Angeles, California.

The new DLR Group Los Angeles office brings together employees that formerly officed in Santa Monica and Pasadena. The consolidation was precipitated by mounting frustrations with increased “windshield time” travelling between the collaborative offices, and the desire to be a part of the city’s heart on the 22nd and partial 23rd floor of the transit-connected, amenity rich office tower.

DLR Group’s design celebrates identity as a central theme: the identity of Los Angeles as a City, DLR Group and its progressive place in the design industry, and the individuals who make up the eclectic group. To promote spatial equity, the office flips traditional hierarchy of workplace design inside out. The majority of hardwall spaces are clustered around the core, leaving the perimeter to desking and the coveted corners to shared spaces that alternatively cultivate escape and engagement.

These shared spaces include the “LA Love” café, featuring locally sourced materials, the “Library” for quiet focused work, the “Wellness Pod” for a biophilic escape, and the “FabLab,” serving as a Hacker and Maker space for experimental application.

In support of the diverse types of people working here, and in order to create an activity based workspace, the LA office is DLR Group’s first to formally organize around freedom of choice for “nomadic” workers. Workplace Identities including Global Nomads, Local Nomads, Host Residents, and Nested Residents span the spectrum of desking, storage, and specialized equipment needs. Surveying the staff revealed 50% self-identified as Nomads. Touchdown desks, Focus rooms, telephone booths, and the corner social spaces give these Nomads freedom of choice in where they do their best work when they are in the office. The only two private offices are designed with secure storage to enable use as a small group meeting space while the executives are traveling.

The design team began with first generation white box conditions in the newly constructed building. The 22nd floor houses desking, corner social spaces, and conferencing. The partial 23rd floor houses an Innovation Lab, which houses quarterly demonstrations from vendor or technology partners, and serves as potential expansion space and larger group meeting space. The office is targeting WELL certification, an innovative Sustainable Design metric focused on sustainable measures that positively impact occupant’s well-being.